Bronx Democrats Weigh In on Borough President Race

By JONATHAN P. HICKS

Published: May 20, 2001

After months of jockeying and rivalry between potential candidates, the Bronx Democratic Party organization reached a decision early yesterday to support Councilman Adolfo Carrión Jr. for Bronx borough president.

To clear the way for an endorsement of Mr. Carrión, 40, a former urban planner who is completing his first term on the City Council, the Bronx organization successfully urged another candidate, Assemblyman José Rivera, to withdraw from the borough president race and to run instead for re-election to the Assembly next year.

The decision about whom to endorse for borough president had been a particularly painstaking one for the organization and its chairman, Roberto Ramirez. Both Mr. Carrión and Mr. Rivera have been loyal supporters of the party organization, but it was widely thought that neither candidate would prevail if both ran in the primary. In the end, Mr. Rivera, 64, said he withdrew in the interest of party unity.

"This is an election that is important for this organization and this borough," Mr. Rivera said yesterday. "We have put personal desire aside for the good of the whole."

Despite this organizational unity, Mr. Carrión faces an intensely competitive race. Two candidates have already entered the race officially: State Senator Pedro Espada Jr. and Willie Colón, the salsa performer and onetime candidate for Congress. And two City Council members, June M. Eisland and Lawrence A. Warden, are in the early stages of formulating a campaign.

"We have competition and we never underestimate the intensity of a race," Mr. Carrión said yesterday. "But we have reached a strong consensus and I'm very excited about it because it creates a very strong political team."

In last year's Democratic primaries, the Bronx organization placed its political prestige behind many races for Assembly, State Senate and Congress, losing virtually all of them. But this year, with the endorsements the organization has made for borough president and several Council seats, Mr. Ramirez said things will be different.

"I expect that all the races will be challenging and difficult," he said yesterday. "But I believe that the voters of the Bronx will give these candidates their vote of confidence."

While Mr. Carrión will have the support and resources of the organization behind him, he faces a formidable opponent in Mr. Espada, who reclaimed his Senate seat last year in a full-throttle political battle against the Democratic organization. Mr. Espada, who also operates a large health services operation in the Bronx, is expected to spend a considerable amount of money on the primary campaign.

"People who play at the top don't always see what's coming from the bottom up," Mr. Espada said. "I understand that there is a real hunger for meaningful change and real coalitions. That's who I am and that's what the people feel I am."

Another complication for Mr. Carrión and the Democratic organization is that while Mr. Rivera has withdrawn from the race, the field still includes three Puerto Rican candidates. That has given rise to the political hopes of Ms. Eisland, who is white, and Mr. Warden, who is black. Although non-Hispanic white voters make up less than a third of the Bronx electorate, Ms. Eisland's strategists say they are confident that she will capture the vast majority of those votes.

The Democratic organization endorsed Mr. Carrión after more than a day of intense discussion among an unusually large number of officials. His endorsement and those for City Council candidates were intended to reduce tensions between various party factions and to present the best opportunity for victories.

Among the organization's decisions in Council races, the most notable was the one to back the Council candidacy of the Rev. Ruben Diaz Sr., a Pentecostal minister who has at times been at odds with Mr. Ramirez and the local party. Mr. Diaz's son, Assemblyman Ruben Diaz Jr., has been a loyal worker for the Democratic organization, and some party officials feared that if the organization did not endorse his father, both might support a rival candidate for borough president.

Less surprising was the decision to endorse José Marco Serrano, a 28- year-old information systems manager and the son of Representative José E. Serrano. Mr. Serrano is running for the City Council seat currently held by Mr. Espada's son, Councilman Pedro Gautier Espada.

The organization endorsed Michael Benjamin, an aide to Assemblywoman Aurelia Greene, in a Council race in which he will face Helen Foster, the daughter of Councilman Wendell Foster. The organization also endorsed former State Senator Larry B. Seabrook, who is running for the Council seat now held by Mr. Warden. Mr. Warden cannot run for re-election because of term limits.